FREE REPORT FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO FEEL YOUNG AGAIN:

The kids won’t stop screaming, your boss has been hounding you because you turned a report in late, and you owe thousands of dollars you don’t have. You’re seriously stressed out.

Stress is actually a normal part of life. At times, it serves a useful purpose. Stress can motivate you to get that promotion at work, or run the last mile of a marathon. But if you don’t get a handle on your stress and it becomes long-term, it can seriously interfere with your job, family life, and health. More than half of Australians say they fight with friends and loved ones because of stress, and more than 70% say they experience real physical and emotional symptoms from it.

Causes of Stress

Everyone has different stress triggers. Work stress tops the list, according to surveys.

Being unhappy in your job

Having a heavy workload or too much responsibility

Working long hours

Having poor management, unclear expectations of your work, or no say in the decision-making process

Working under dangerous conditions

Being insecure about your chance for advancement or risk of termination

Having to give speeches in front of colleagues

Facing discrimination or harassment at work, especially if your company isn’t supportive

Sometimes the stress comes from inside, rather than outside. You can stress yourself out just by worrying about things. Fear and uncertainty. When you regularly hear about the threat of terrorist attacks, global warming, and toxic chemicals on the news, it can cause you to feel stressed, especially because you feel like you have no control over those events. And even though disasters are typically very rare events, their vivid coverage in the media may make them seem as if they are more likely to occur than they really are. Fears can also hit closer to home, such as being worried that you won’t finish a project at work or won’t have enough money to pay your bills this month.

Attitudes and perceptions. How you view the world or a particular situation can determine whether it causes stress. For example, if your television set is stolen and you take the attitude, “It’s OK, my insurance company will pay for a new one,” you’ll be far less stressed than if you think, “My TV is gone and I’ll never get it back! What if the thieves come back to my house to steal again?” Similarly, people who feel like they’re doing a good job at work will be less stressed out by a big upcoming project than those who worry that they are incompetent.

Unrealistic expectations.

No one is perfect. If you expect to do everything right all the time, you’re destined to feel stressed when things don’t go as expected.

Effects of Stress on Your Health

When you are in a stressful situation, your body launches a physical response. Your nervous system springs into action, releasing hormones that prepare you to either fight or take off. It’s called the “fight or flight” response, and it’s why, when you’re in a stressful situation, you may notice that your heartbeat speeds up, your breathing gets faster, your muscles tense, and you start to sweat. This kind of stress is short-term and temporary (acute stress), and your body usually recovers quickly from it.

But if your stress system stays activated over a long period of time (chronic stress), it can lead to more serious health problems. The constant rush of stress hormones can put a lot of wear and tear on your body, causing it to age more quickly and making it more prone to illness. If you’ve been stressed out for a short period of time, you may start to notice some of these physical signs:

Headache

Fatigue

Difficulty sleeping

Difficulty concentrating

Upset stomach

Irritability

When stress becomes long-term and is not properly addressed, it can lead to a number of more serious health conditions, including: